Comparison of Hotel Room Prices Before and During COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemics in Southeast Region of Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to show the hotel room price discrepancies according quality rating and chain affiliation by comparing hotel room prices before and during COVID-19 pandemics in the Southeast Region of Turkey. The data were gathered through online travel agents (OTAs) from the Southeast Region of Turkey. Then, to analyse the data, the non- parametric Wilcoxon signed-ranks test was used for the variables of quality rating and chain affiliation in order to find out the room price discrepancies for the hotels. A significant and meaningful difference upon the room prices by quality rating (from 1 star to 5 star hotels), except the 2 star hotels, was found out. Moreover, the study produced a significant difference upon the room prices by chain affiliation. This study concluded that quality star rating is still considerable effect when the room prices are determined in the hotel market. Furthermore, this study showed that although the chain hotels are perceived to better survive through crises in the market, the independent hotels in this study were seen as more resilient toward the COVID-19 pandemics. This study suggested some insights to help managers to handle the crisis and prepare for the near future.

Keywords

• Hotels
• COVID-19
• Quality Rating
• Chain Affiliation
• Turkey

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